Their Hockey Game
by Allison Elder
Summary: Of course it's Derek, Emily! He doesn't even deserve a birthday present, and he certainly doesn't care if I blow off his for once to pay for my car!" She tore them both apart...all the while praying he didn't find out her real plan. Dasey Oneshot.


Disclaimer: I do not own Life with Derek, or the two songs featured here

**Disclaimer: I do not own Life with Derek. Too bad. It would be nice.**

_**Alright, so this isn't my normal shpiel of Harry Potter fanfiction. I thought I'd try something else for a change. To those of you who happen to have me on your author alert lists and don't like Life with Derek (specifically Dasey pairings) I apologize. I don't know how much longer the Dasey plot bunnies will be gnawing at my fingers, but I decided to run with it.**_

_**This is a one-shot. I don't normally do one-shots, but I tried. Let me know what y'all think about it!**_

_**Yours,**_

_**Allison Elder**_

**Hockey Game**

"But Dad, it's tradition! I've given up every present for three years to get it!" Casey McDonald frowned and stopped just outside of her stepbrother's door, listening. It had been three years since she, her mother, and her sister had moved in with the Venturis and life had finally settled into something bearable. She and Derek had a comfortable routine of pranks and bickering that had turned steadily into a friendly banter. Their parents - well, everybody really except for their respective best friends who felt it their duty to insistently and consistently point out the obvious - pretended not to notice the spark in each of the teens' eyes as they 'fought,' drawing closer to each other with each insult. Someone always inevitably interrupted before the last few inches could be closed, and Casey and Derek would break apart.

It was, in fact, the longer periods _without_ pranks that had become cause for worry. Any period longer than three days without a squealed "De-_rek!_" meant that something much more ominous loomed on the horizon: an actual fight. It meant that Derek had gotten careless during one of their bantering fits and insulted the fact that Casey hadn't had a boyfriend in over a year. Or that Casey had gotten irritated with Derek and insulted his intelligence, telling him at the top of her lungs that he would never amount to anything. Or one of them had said something to the other in _that tone_ and of course _that tone_ meant that they were actually _serious_ for once.

Neither paid much attention to how much the other's opinion meant to them. It was just another facet of life in their strange relationship. Derek could ignore virtually anyone but Casey, and she could look down her nose at anyone insulting her - so long as they weren't Derek.

Everybody knew the exact time that Casey and Derek's relationship had changed. It was the longest period without pranks that anyone had seen since the McDonalds moved in. Derek had lost control of the car on a particularly bad patch of ice one night and he and Casey had ended up in the hospital. She left that night with three stitches and prescribed pain killers for a badly sprained wrist. Derek had stayed three days in the hospital before being released - reluctantly - to allow Casey to fuss over him. He'd been unconscious when they'd reached the hospital and hadn't stirred for almost thirty hours. Casey had counted. While he wouldn't wake up, _she_ wouldn't sleep...and as soon as Nora and George had turned their backs the next morning, she was back at the hospital.

The pair had been nearly inseparable after the experience. Casey had stopped glaring at every girl that flirted with Derek and settled for a blank, pleasantly vague face. Derek had stopped _every_ rumor or taunt in Casey's direction long before they could reach her oversensitive ears. They walked with each other between classes, sat with each other in the lunch room, and curled up in the living room with each other after homework each afternoon trading between the chair and the remote. After a solid month and a half of this behavior, the family had staged an intervention.

--

_Derek had just walked in from hockey practice when Casey stepped out of the kitchen with two sandwiches on a single plate and he grinned at her. Her eyes flicked towards the stairs and his flicked towards the television. Edwin and Lizzie watched from their position at the back of the room, rolling their eyes as Derek paused at Casey - who handed him half of what was to be assumed as his sandwich - before he took off up the stairs. Casey curled up on the couch, leaning on the arm closest to the recliner and picked up the remote, turning the tv on._

_"What was that?" Nora asked in disbelief. It was the first time she and George had seen this particular part of the Casey-Derek after school ritual._

_"Casey wanted Derek to take a shower before watching tv with her because she can't stand his after-practice stench." Lizzie said absently._

_"And Derek was asking her if she wanted the remote or the chair today, because a new episode of _her_ show is on while his is only re-runs. And then he wanted to know which sandwich was his." Edwin finished._

_"Do they always do that?" George asked._

_"No. Usually, they consistently switch." Lizzie bit into her own after school snack._

_"Today is supposed to be Derek's day with the remote, but he's offering it to her." Edwin took a bite as well._

_"How do you know what they're saying?" Nora asked, eyeing the two warily. The thirteen-year-olds glanced at each other and then at their parents before shrugging simultaneously._

_"Just do." Edwin said._

_"Ah."_

_Derek didn't seem surprised to see Casey curled up on the couch when he hopped off of the last step. Instead, he plopped in his recliner and set the feet up, watching the show with her without complaint. Just as the credits were about to roll Edwin, Lizzie, Nora, and George stepped between the young adults and their television. Casey and Derek studied the determined faces before them impassively for a long, long moment before their eyes flicked to each other and back so quickly that their parents missed it._

_"Casey...Derek..." Nora began slowly. "We're thrilled that the two of you are getting along. We are."_

_"It's been so _peaceful_ these past few weeks..." Lizzie began._

_Edwin cut in. "But...it's gotta stop. You're just not..._Casey and Derek_...without the pranks and the fighting."_

_"Your teachers commented on it, too." Nora said quietly. "They say you're sitting together in classes and that _everyone_ avoids commenting on it. That you walk with each other everywhere."_

_"We understand that you had a scare, kids." George took over. "I know how scared you both were after the accident...what it took for Casey to begin driving again...but you have to let it go. If you live in fear, you'll never _live_."_

_Casey and Derek had stared at him for a long moment before looking at each other. Nobody - except perhaps Lizzie and Edwin, and they weren't sharing - knew what was said in that five second discussion, but at the end of it Derek's lips turned up in a small smirk and he plucked the remote out of Casey's complacent fingers._

_"Thank you." He said, turning to the TV and giving the family before him a look before shooing them off. "Go on. Move along now."_

_"De-_rek!_" And just like that, the teens were back to normal._

--

It had been two years before. Nobody had drawn the parallel to when Casey had stopped dating yet - at least, Casey hoped they hadn't. She was brought out of her thoughts by Derek's upset voice.

"Alright, Dad. I understand." He sounded resigned and hurt. Casey stared at the door for a moment longer and stepped just out of sight of the interior of the room as George stepped out and closed the door carefully behind him. He turned and froze, giving Casey a deer-in-the-headlights look as she stared at him for a long moment before smiling. She could tell by the way his adam's apple bobbed that it wasn't a pleasant smile. She grabbed his arm and yanked him to the stairs, releasing him only so that they didn't both fall down the stairs before grabbing his arm again. She didn't stop at the living room or the kitchen, continuing to the door and handing him his coat imperiously before grabbing her own and slipping into her sneakers.

Only when they were in her car and she was pulling away from the house did she speak, and her voice was calm and cool. "Do you want to tell me exactly what you're not giving Derek this year that he looks forward to so much?" She heard him sigh.

"Derek and I usually go to a hockey game in the States once a year for his birthday." He said.

"Yes, I know..." Casey said slowly, frowning.

"With your mother's cancer this year, we can't afford it. Things are going to be tight anyways...and we just can't afford the expenses." George said, quietly. "Not with you and Derek's graduation expenses and college tuitions coming up." Casey frowned, slowing and stopping at a red light. Her mind was working feverishly. She and Derek had been given George's old car when theirs had been totalled. George had bought Nora a new one, and he used hers. She had been saving for her own car so that Derek could have this one solely, but...

"How much are the game tickets?" She asked.

"About sixty dollars each for the best ones." George answered, frowning. "Why?"

"What about the air fare?" When he named that total, she added it in her brain. "Hotel room?" Added again. "Food and other miscellaneous expenses?" When she added the last bit on, she nodded slowly and did some quick number crunching before sighing and rubbing her temples. So much for being able to get her car before college. Maybe she could get a job there and finish saving for it.

"Casey, what are you planning?" George asked warily, though he thought he already knew.

"Nothing, George." She sounded resigned. "I can't afford it." _Derek_ would never have bought it. George wasn't Derek...even if he did influence his son, George was not half as familiar with the nuances of _Caseyism_.

"Alright. I'm sorry it turned out like this, Casey." He put his hand on her shoulder. "Now...where are we going that you had to drag me along?"

"I needed tampons." She said nonchalantly, ignoring the horrified look on his face. "And there were a few other things that I need to pick up." She glanced at him finally and laughed. "George, you look like I ate your puppy! You can wait in the car! I just needed you out of the house in case Derek caught us talking!" His relief was so clear that she burst out laughing again. He tried not to look at the bags she put in the back seat of the car before sliding into the driver's seat and pulling back out of the parking lot.

--

After dinner that night - a dinner where Derek had been entirely too quiet for Casey's liking - Casey pulled a bag out of the freezer, grabbed two spoons, and walked upstairs. She stopped at Derek's door, where an eerie silence rang within, and sighed. Knocking twice, she reached down and opened the door, stepping into the dark room as a figure on the bed sat up. Closing the door behind her and locking it, Casey paused until Derek had turned on his lamp before she walked across his floor to sit on the edge of his bed.

"Hey." She said quietly.

"Hey." His voice was even listless. Casey fought off a frown and handed him a spoon without comment. He took it and looked at it before looking at her, the first sign of interest on his face. "Case?"

She reached into the plastic bag and pulled out the gallon container of Rocky Road ice cream, pulling the top off and setting it aside before placing the ice cream between them and digging into it with her spoon. He watched her for a long moment, and then her eyes flicked to his and paused for a moment before she pointedly reached over and grabbed the hand that held his spoon, guiding it to the ice cream. When he took a bite, rolling his eyes at the way she was mothering him, she gave him a satisfied smile and continued to eat.

They had consumed over half of the carton when their glances stopped. Her glances had told him that she'd cornered George and his had told her that he was hesitant to talk about it. So she'd contented herself with chocolatey ice cream and waiting while he gathered himself together enough that he could tell her. The same thing he'd done for her the night that she'd called him sobbing in the middle of a party that Emily had dragged her to, but that he hadn't been allowed to go to because he'd been grounded at the time. It had turned out that one of the basket ball players had tried to force Casey to put out, only stopping when she'd told him that it was 'her time of the month.' The basketball player couldn't walk down the hall without jeers, taunts, and generally being shunned now.

Casey heard Derek sigh before he took a deep breath. "It was the ony tradition that Dad and I really had." He said, quietly. When her blue eyes looked up to meet his pained brown ones, he continued. "I could handle everything else about the new arrangements because I still had that. Dad promised that we'd do it at least once a year until I went to college, and we have. This is the last year we could do it. I understand and all...Nora's much more important than some game...but it still sucks." Casey had been surprised how much depth Derek had the first time they'd talked like this, right after he'd woke up in the hospital room to find Casey stroking his hair back and holding his hand as the pain hit. It had become normal to her since then.

"I'm sorry, Derek." Casey said, softly. He gave her a pained smile and she scooped up some of the ice cream and offered it to him. He gave her an incredulous look before leaning forward and taking the bite off of her spoon. Giving him another smile, Casey began to take a bite before he stopped her and scooped some up with his own spoon, offering it to her. Once the bite was done, they glanced at the time and groaned. He put the lid on the ice cream while she grabbed both spoons and they made their way downstairs. He popped the ice cream in the freezer after grabbing a sharpie and writing 'DC' on the side, the one warning anyone in the house would get. Lizzie had touched Derek and Casey's ice cream once before. One of the oldest two children was bad enough but when Derek and Casey ganged up, mercy was clearly blacked out of the dictionary.

--

"You're doing what?!" Emily Davis stared at her best friend.

"Look, can I get them sent to your house or what Em?" Casey asked, irritated. Emily had been asking the same thing ever since Casey had explained the plan to her. Casey understood that she generally didn't show this much generosity to Derek, but Emily was going a little overboard with her amazement in Casey's opinion.

"Of course!" Emily said. "I'm just surprised, Case! I mean this is _Der--" _She cut off when Casey covered her mouth with one hand and glanced around frantically. She spotted Derek staring at them from down the hall and her heart sank. He would never stop until he knew what she was up to now. Not unless they _fought_...and both of them hated it with a passion when they _fought_. Not only that, but this _fight_ would have to last for at least two weeks...until it was time for the big surprise.

She let that anguish show as she flicked her eyes past Derek, pretending not to see him, before she spoke loudly. "Of course it's _Derek,_ Emily! He doesn't even deserve a birthday present, and he certainly doesn't care if I blow off his for once to pay for my car! _Especially_ when said-car means that we don't have to suffer through the same _college_ too!" She saw the horrible comprehension in Emily's eyes as they widened and stared down the hall in horror. But the damage had been done - as Casey knew it would. She turned and followed her friend's gaze, seeing Derek's guard down as he stared at her in hurt shock before the darkest look she'd seen on him since before the car accident settled on his face and he turned, walking away from her rather than meeting her to go to lunch like he had every day for a little over two years.

"Casey...did you..." Emily broke off, her voice soft and horrified. "Of course you saw him. You _always_ know where he is."

"I saw him." Casey confirmed, fighting to keep true tears back. "So...I'll order those tickets tonight and get the hotel reservations. Are you sure your mom won't mind me using her credit card? I don't want to risk anyone at my house finding out...you know none of them can hold out to Derek's interrogations."

Emily looked at her with what appeared to be true pity. "I'm sure she won't, Case." She assured. "Come on...let's get you some food and off to class before you have to face each other after school." But Derek had the keys that day, and clearly he'd had other plans. So for the first time since they had gotten George's old car, Casey rode the bus home.

--

"Are you sure you're okay, Casey?" Casey smiled through her tears at the voice of Derek's best friend Sam.

"I will be, Sam. Thanks. Derek and I have fought before. He'll get over it." She managed to keep her flippant attitude and pretend that it was just another fight - even though she and Sam both knew it wasn't.

"Alright...well, I'll keep you posted from my end, Case...just...take care of yourself, okay?"

"Will do, Sam." Casey said quietly. She hung up and laid back on her bed, staring at the ceiling. The door to her room was locked, as was the door to Derek's. As soon as she hung up, the Creed that Derek was literally _blasting_ in the room next door filtered into her consciousness again and she fought back a soft groan. She'd only seen Derek _Creed Angry_ once...and that was after he'd found out what had happened at the ill fated party that Emily had dragged her to the year before. Edwin had told her that he'd been scared for her life that time, and she hadn't been able to tell him that it wasn't she that Derek was angry with at the time.

It certainly was her this time. She'd forced the declaration out almost five days before - it had been Monday then and it was Thursday Night now - and it felt like a repeat of her first week of school in her sophomore year. When the eerie silence between she and Derek lasted longer than Monday, the entire family would realize that this _fight_ was _different_ than any of their fights had been in two years. Casey had talked to her boss that night, and she intended to work from right after school until after dinner each night for the entire next week. She couldn't risk caving in and telling Derek everything, grovelling at his feet, not when she'd come this far...and she hadn't realized until that week just how much she'd grown to rely on Derek as a friend. It felt like she was being ripped in two without him...like he stablized her and complimented her, molding so completely into her life that he might as well have been her other half.

The worst of it was acting like she didn't care. Every time she saw Derek, she had to close her entire face down and pretend that she didn't care that they hadn't said a single word to each other since Monday and probably wouldn't for at least another week. Casey would have been angry with Emily had she had the energy - between the painful, unbearable gap that grew with each day of silence between she and Derek and the effort it took to pretend she didn't care, Casey was listless and depressed most of the time, usually falling asleep immediately after dinner and having to force herself out of bed each morning...something she never had to do - but she needed her best friend's support. Without it, Casey would have been lost to her despair by Tuesday at lunch.

Sure enough, on Sunday their family sat them down on the couch and stared at the two of them. Derek just stared at them all blankly, pretending Casey didn't exist, and Casey took one last deep breath before putting on the face that she had been wearing constantly around him.

"What is going on here? Casey? Derek? You guys are practically best friends!" Nora said, staring at them. Casey looked at her mom, still weak from the chemo and radiation therapies, and felt her throat close. Lying to her mom when she was just barely getting over her breast cancer was not what Casey wanted to do. But until Derek's birthday party, she had to.

"Derek's just upset that I'm pulling a Derek." She sneered, looking down her nose at the stepbrother in question.

"What?" George looked at her in confusion, while Edwin and Lizzie whipped around to stare at her so quickly they almost fell into each other.

"I refuse to buy him a birthday present this year." She said, simply. "He overheard me talking to Emily about it, and now he's pouting."

"Casey...why aren't you going to buy Derek a present? Usually you've had one already wrapped by now." Nora said, gently, as she tried to regroup at the sight of the stormy look on Derek's face.

"Not this year. My car's more important. I don't want to have to ride back and forth to college with _him_." She snorted. "Is that so hard to understand?" Her peripheral vision caught a violent movement beside her and she braced, half expecting Derek to hurt her, but about seven seconds later the door to his bedroom slammed so hard that the entire family winced. Casey fought off her tears. "Excuse me." She stood and walked with dignity up the stairs, only running when she was completely out of sight, closing her own door and locking it as quickly as she could.

Once inside, she curled around her pillow and bit down on it as hard as she could so that Derek couldn't hear her crying next door.

--

"They came in." Emily said quietly on Thursday. "Girl, you don't look good. Maybe you should tell..."

"No." Said Casey, who looked like she hadn't gotten more than thirty minutes of sleep the night before, even though she'd collapsed right after finishing her homework and slept through dinner, only waking for her alarm clock. She'd skipped breakfast that morning, too. It just hadn't seemed worth the effort, and it only seemed fair that she be the one to ride the bus since she had been the one to hurt Derek so badly.

"Well, let's at least get you some lunch." Emily said. Casey hesitated. She wasn't hungry, but Emily wouldn't let her skip lunch. She let herself be led to the lunch room and even managed to eat half of her lunch before her stomach churned unpleasantly and she bolted, leaving Emily staring worriedly after her before turning to look in the direction Casey had been staring before bolting. Derek had a girl on his lap and was kissing her like he was going to take her on the table there in the lunch room, despite his no PDA rule. Sam met her eyes from across the room and the two of them simultaneously winced.

Casey showed up in class looking - if possible - worse than before. She stared blankly at her desk the whole time, and not even the teachers dared to question her. It was like seeing Derek with the other girl had stolen the last spark of energy in Casey. She let herself be led about like a puppy but wouldn't do anything on her own. Emily and Sam had to literally take her hand and lead her to her classes for the rest of the day. Sir English even called Paul, who came in and led her out of the room without a word to anyone. She didn't show up for any other classes that day.

When her mom came and got her Nora took one look at the daughter she hadn't seen in three days due to work and school, and then she bustled Casey silently into her room and made soup. While settling Casey into bed with the bowl of hot soup, which Casey only stirred about restlessly, Nora stroked her hair back from her face and waited for the dull blue eyes to look up at her before speaking.

"Casey, you can't keep up like this. Just talk to Derek." She said, softly.

Casey blinked slowly, as if she didn't quite comprehend, and then she shook her head silently and returned her stare to her soup. Nora sighed and was about to stand when Casey spoke for the first time since whispering a quick 'I'm going to be sick' to Emily on her way out of the cafeteria. "Mom?"

"Yes, Casey?"

"Could you maybe write the school a letter excusing Derek next week?"

"Excusing him? For what reason?"

"Derek's gonna be out of town next week."

"All of next week?"

"Uh-huh. He leaves Sunday."

"To what destination?"

"..." For once, it seemed, long words weren't going to make any sense to Casey.

"Where is Derek going, honey?" Nora reiterated, frowning and Casey seemed to shrink in on herself even further.

"New York." Casey whispered. Nora froze at the implications. George had told her about his discussion with Derek and the consequential drive with Casey. He'd told her that Casey had asked several questions about the money, but that he'd assumed she'd just wanted to see if she could do the math in her head when she said she couldn't afford it.

"Is he going with anyone?"

Casey broke a little, tears pooling in her eyes. "No."

"I see." Nora stared at Casey, certain that she wasn't getting the whole story. "I'll think about it, okay honey? Eat your soup." All Casey did was move the spoon around, worrying Nora even further as she walked out of the room and closed the door gently behind her.

Nora was still deep in thought that afternoon when Lizzie and Edwin burst through the door, staring at her. "Where is she?" Upon her motion to the stairs, they ran for them to make sure for themselves that Casey still lived. Derek followed more slowly, and even though he tried to hide it there were worry lines all over his young face as he stared at Nora intently.

"Bedroom." She said. He didn't wait for her to say anything else as he walked quickly to the stairs and moved up them just as Lizzie and Edwin returned. They glanced at each other and then shifted aside to make room for him, but Nora noticed they carefully hid the tray in Lizzie's arms from his view. That Derek didn't even notice their subterfuge told her exactly how worried he was.

Her own worry increased when Lizzie reached her and showed off the still full - and now ice cold - bowl of soup. "She said that she wasn't hungry." Edwin said, softly.

It was George who came up with an idea later that night. "Derek, why don't you try feeding Casey? She might take it from you."

Derek glared at his dad for a long moment, hostility immediately in every line of his body. "No."

"Derek."

"..."

"Smerek, is Casey gonna die?" Marti's scared voice broke through the silence, and it was that more than anything, George figured, that sent Derek up to Casey's room with another bowl of soup. Nora led George silently down to the basement and locked the door behind them, moving to her night stand and pulling out a pristine envelope. She looked at her husband quietly.

"George, Casey lied."

"What?"

"She got Derek a birthday present. I think you should see it." She handed the envelope to him. When he pulled out two two-way airline tickets and two tickets - tickets that were better than he and Derek had ever gotten before - to a hockey game in New York the next week. He stared at it silently before Nora handed him another sheet and he found himself staring at the bill for the five star hotel room that Casey had booked for seven nights.

"What...?"

"She gave up her car money to make sure that he got his hockey game." Nora said, softly. "And from what Emily told me, she's got most of this trip paid off already. She worked out a deal with Emily's mom and paid the hotel room and air fare off in advance, but was allowed to keep most of her money back as spending money...food and souveniers and such. That's why she picked up her hours at work...to pay off the actual game tickets."

"Then why did she say she wasn't getting him a present?"

Nora sighed. "Emily told me that she accidentally started to blurt it out in the hallway. Casey had to come up with a cover fast, and we all know that the only time that Derek can't bother with finding out what Casey is up to is when they're having an actual fight instead of just the play fights that they have every day."

"I can't believe she did this...and she didn't tell anyone?"

"Only Emily and her mother." Nora confirmed. "George...the only thing she asked me today was to write Derek an excuse for next week so that he could go on the trip."

"Did she say who she'd planned on going with him?"

"That's what scared me." Nora walked away from him, rubbing the back of her neck. She turned back to him. "When I asked her if anyone was going with him, she said 'No.' And she said it like she knew that nothing would fix this fight between them."

"But...their relationship is stronger than a fight."

"When I asked her, Emily told me that Casey had said something about a gap that was becoming a canyon, and that Case felt like she was missing something." Nora worried.

"Do you think we should get her help?"

Nora was about to answer when they heard steps on the basement stairs and a knock came at the door. "Dad? Nora?" It was Derek. "Casey's asking for you guys." They opened the door and looked at him. He shook his head despondantly. "I couldn't get her to eat. I couldn't even get her to talk to me. She went into hysterics when she saw me, and didn't stop until Lizzie and Edwin pushed me out the door and slammed it in my face. They told me to come get you."

George and Nora sighed and walked together towards the steps.

--

Casey stirred the soup that Lizzie was coaxing down her reluctantly before taking another small sip. It did make her feel a little better, but she didn't feel she deserved to feel better. She had done the right thing. She was lousy at secrets. Derek would have known within the hour. But it didn't make her any less guilty of causing him enough pain that he'd ignored his own PDA rule to forget about it. She'd thought for sure that he was going to drown her in the soup when he'd stepped into the room.

When her mom and George stepped in, Lizzie and Edwin did as she'd asked and moved to keep Derek from listening in. She didn't know why, but it seemed that the young teens were willing to do just about anything to accomodate her. She sighed and looked up into the worried eyes of her mom and stepdad.

"I'm okay." She took another spoonful of soup to emphasize. When they continued staring at her, she looked down at her lap. "I...I want you to give the tickets to Derek. Tell him you wanted to surprise him...that they're from you."

Nora was about to open her mouth to rail her daughter when George spoke. "No."

"What?" She looked up at him incredulously.

"No. If you think that playing sick and not eating is going to get you out of going to New York with Derek, you're wrong Casey." He said. She stared at him incredulously, and Nora turned to look at him as well. He didn't meet Nora's gaze. "You clearly planned this to be a trip for the two of you, and that's what it's going to be."

"I dont' want to ruin it for him..." Casey began.

"Then you'll give him the tickets yourself and go." George said. "Derek was _tripping_ over himself when he came down to get us, he was so worried. He didn't know what to do when you went into hysterics. And really, I thought we were past this melodrama." He ignored Casey's intake of breath, signalling that she was about to speak. "After all, the last time we had this much melodrama in this house it ended with Derek unconscious for twenty-four hours."

"Thirty." mumbled Casey. Nora looked at Casey interestedly. The teen looked up at George, her face unreadable, before sighing and handing him her soup. "Mom, would you go get the tickets for me? And George, would you bring up the new carton of rocky road ice cream Lizzie bought to replace mine and Derek's and two spoons?" Only once they had finished that did Casey sigh and sit up straighter in her bed. "Now...would one of you send in Derek and take everyone else out to the movies or something? It's a long weekend, so they don't need to wake up tomorrow."

After what felt like hours - but was really only about five minutes (she timed it) - Casey's door opened slowly. Derek stepped in and closed the door behind him, locking it. He stared at her quietly, and then took in the ice cream waiting for him as well as the spoon sticking up in the center of the ice cream. Their signal for a cease fire. A part of him didn't want to accept it...wanted to hurt her as much as she'd hurt him. A larger part took in Casey's pale appearance and the dullness of her blue eyes and decided to find out why she was acting like this if she couldn't care less about what he felt.

Walking to the bed, Derek sat at the foot, as far away from Casey as he could get and still be on the bed. She looked at him and it felt almost like she was memorizing his every feature before she quietly reached under her pillow and pulled out a large envelope - one of the dark yellow kind - and handed it to him quietly. He stared at her for a moment, meeting her eyes and searching for any hint as to what she had just handed him (her will, perhaps?) before he pulled out the bundle inside and looked at it.

His heart stopped.

"_Casey_." He knew that his voice was reverent as he stared at the two pristine tickets to the Wednesday Game resting before him.

"Happy Birthday, Derek." She sounded like a puppy that expected her master to hit her.

"Casey...these tickets, they cost..." Derek broke off, unable to go on. He looked through the rest of the papers, taking in the first class plane tickets and the hotel room. Each time, he swore his heart stopped. Each of the latter made the first look like JC Penny's versus WalMart. Derek couldn't come up with anything meaningful to say, so all he said again was "_Casey_." in that same reverent tone of voice.

"I'm sorry you have to drive me around for our college years too, Derek." Her timid voice finally broke through his amazement and he looked at her in disbelief.

"What?" He couldn't comprehend it. Nobody..._nobody_...had ever done something this meaningful for him.

"I had to pick up my hours at work to finish paying this off." She whispered, looking down as if ashamed.

"You didn't spend all of your money on this?" His voice was incredulous.

"No...not quite." She said softly. "But we...you still have to eat while you're there, and I know you'll want souveniers..."

"You're not going?" _That_ got his attention.

"I didn't think..." She broke off. "You've been so mad..." Again. "I hurt you so badly..." When she cut off a third time, comprehension began to dawn and he couldn't help what he did next. He moved around the ice cream and drew her into a hug as tightly as he could. When she gave a startled cry, he pressed his lips to hers briefly before nuzzling his face into her hair.

"My poor, poor Case. You've been eating yourself alive because I was mad at you when all you wanted to do was surprise me, haven't you?"

There was a long silence and he was almost afraid she would reject him. Just as he was about to loosen his grip and move away, she whispered. "Yes." At his relieved laughter, she whimpered. "Emily started to shout it out and you'd already heard part of it...I had to do something to keep you from knowing before I wanted you to know, and I couldn't think of any other reason that you'd let it alone, and..." She was cut off by his lips again. It seemed to be his favorite way to shut her up as of...thirty seconds before.

"Damn Emily..." Derek muttered. He sighed and tightened his arms around her. "You better have asked Nora to write you a note for next week too, Case. I'm not letting you out of my sight for the rest of our fucking lives."

Her hands - which she had slowly moved to rest on the arm that he had around her mid section - tightened almost painfully. "Derek?"

"Haven't you guessed it yet, Case? I'm--" He cut off and tried again. "When you started this 'No Birthday Present' business, especially after I'd already gotten yours...it just kinda threw me for a loop."

"I'm sorry, I..." There was a pause and he had to smile into her sweet smelling hair. "Wait. You've already got mine? Can I see?"

"Not a chance, Space Case." He whispered. "First, we get to celebrate _my_ birthday. Yours hasn't come just yet."

She whined, and then sighed. "If we're going to cuddle - which we get to do a lot of during this trip, mind you, because it's a one bed room. Hope Mom and George didn't catch that - then you need to come behind me. I want to lean on you."

"Yes ma'am." There was laughter in his voice and she gave him a smug look as he lifted his head from her shoulder and looked down at her. This made him laugh outright. They ended up with one of his legs on either side of her as he leaned on the wall and her leaning back into his chest with her head on his shoulder. They had demolished the rocky road within the first hour and a half as they talked. This in itself wasn't so unusual. Derek and Casey spent a lot of Derek and Casey time in this position, so long as they knew nobody would find them. What was unusual was the way Derek's free hand closed around hers almost possessively and the way that he buried his face in her hair from time to time.

After setting the empty carton aside to take downstairs later with the spoons on top of it, Casey turned slightly and looked up at Derek's face. "Derek?"

"Mph. What?" He lifted his head when it became apparent that she wanted to talk more.

"Not that I don't enjoy it, but why are you clinging?"

She watched him sigh and he looked at her for a long moment. She met his stare, reading what she saw there and letting him read her in turn. The pain of the past two weeks was at the surface of his eyes, along with an emotion she could identify as a desperate need...and when his arms tightened around her so slightly that nobody watching would have noticed it she understood that his need was to be near her. She realized, suddenly, that she wasn't the only one who relied on their closeness to get her through day to day life. After a moment, she grinned at him and he grinned back.

They fell asleep not much later, pressed together.

--

"All of the information for the Hotel Room is on the fridge, Mom." Casey said patiently as she and Derek stood at the gate, waiting for Nora and George to stop clinging to them and let them go. "We'll call you as soon as we check in. We'll probably go straight to sleep tonight, but we've got busy days for the rest of the week. I'll call you each morning to let you know our plans, but we'll probably be getting in too late to call." She and Derek flicked their eyes together at that and then back to their parents. Edwin and Lizzie were at home watching Marti, so they wouldn't be able to translate the glances for their parents like they'd been forced to do regularly for two years.

"We'll be back early on Sunday." Derek continued. "You have nothing to worry about." He smiled charmingly at them. Even so, it was almost five minutes later that they finally got their parents to let them go so that they could show their boarding passes to the stewardress and board. Their eyes flickered to each other every now and again, and later as they landed in New York their faces broke into wide smiles. Only once they were in the hotel did Derek grab Casey's hand and pull her to him. She moved towards him complacently, willing to go along with just about anything that he wanted since they'd started to talking again. He felt the same towards her, really.

"Thank you, Casey." He said, his voice completely serious. She looked up at him and he gave her a gentle smile.

She smiled and did something that neither of them really expected. She leaned up and kissed him full on the lips, wrapping her arms around the back of his neck. "You're welcome." She whispered in a breathy voice when they finally parted.

Their eyes met, sharing so much more information than anyone who met them could ever comprehend with one glance, and they kissed again more slowly.

--

"That was fun. We should do it again." Casey said mildly. Derek was bouncing ahead of her and she fully expected that he hadn't heard her. Laughing, she watched him spin around and stare at her suddenly.

"You know what this means, don't you Case?"

"What does this mean, Derek?" She asked.

"It means that _you_ have to come to _my_ games for the rest of the year!" He crowed triumphantly. Casey laughed again and trotted to him. She slid her hand over his arm briefly but dropped it quickly, mindful of his PDA rule.

"Oh very well." Her voice was full of merriment. "Only because you're _you._"

"Of course I'm me." He got serious, suddenly, and took her hand. She looked at it and then up at him in surprise. "And you know what, Space Case?"

"What's that, Der Bear?" She teased right back.

His eyes flicked about them before meeting hers and he leaned down to give voice to the words that their eyes had been saying since they'd ended their fight. "I'm _your_ Der Bear."

Their eyes met as she turned her head to stare at him. A smile played at his lips and she smiled in return.

"No more sluts?"

"No more sluts."

"No more pranks?"

"No promises." They both laughed at that. "Speaking of pranks...we owe Emily."

"I guess we do, don't we." She put a finger to her lower lip. "What did you have in mind?" They continued walking out of the stadium.

"Well..."

There were four legendary joint pranks played by Casey and Derek in their entire High School tenure. One was on Lizzie when she dared to eat Casey and Derek's rocky road ice cream without replacing it. One was on the teachers of the school so that Derek, Sam, Casey, and Emily could go to the movies for their senior ditch day without being caught. The third was played on George and Nora to soften the blow of knowing that their children were dating while they were married. The final prank?

The final prank was played on Emily, and consisted of a fake contest, an elaboratly fake prize...and a thank you note.


End file.
